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Does Southern Lit Include Florida? And Other Tangents With Tim Dorsey

“Ninety percent of our existence is tangents. So tangents are actually the real plot. But even more importantly, if you avoid a tangent you normally would have taken, you could create a rip in the quantum fabric of the universe”.  –Serge Storms

Tim Dorsey’s latest novel, Tiger Shrimp Tango, is a delightfully demented crime story/Florida pseudo-travel-guide about a serial killer named Serge Storms.  Rambling around the Sunshine State, he hunts down scam artists and scumbags and doles out inventive, lethal forms of punishment, such as trapping a crook in a huge soda container, then performing a jumbo-sized version of the Diet Coke and Mentos trick.

Dorsey is part of a school of Florida writers that includes John D. MacDonald, Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry.  They are “writing the history of Florida in real time, in the mystery genre,” Dorsey says.  “It’s weird crime, too.”

Many of the bizarre events and colorful locations in his novels are based in reality.  In this conversation, WUTC’s Michael Edward Miller speaks with Dorsey about how Florida literature fits into the Southern lit genre, why so many of Dorsey’s fans have Serge Storms tattoos, and how he’s attracted both librarians and bikers as fans.  His author events, he says, “can be like the Rocky Horror Picture Show of book signings.”

Tiger Shrimp Tango, published in January 2014, is Dorsey’s 17th novel, part of a series with protagonist Serge Storms and his stoner sidekick Coleman.

DORSEY VISITS THE REGION:

Feb. 24 - Mon - Eagle Eye Bookshop - 7 p.m.
2076 N Decatur Rd, Decatur, GA

Feb. 25 - Tues - Fox Tale Book Shoppe - 6:30 p.m.
105 E Main St, Woodstock, GA

Feb. 28 - Fri - Alabama Booksmith - 4 p.m.
2626 19th Place S, Birmingham, AL

Mar. 2 - Sun - Parnassus Books - 2 p.m.
3900 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville, TN